To assess the suitability of Ørsted A/S for the issuance of hybrid bonds, we evaluate the provided criteria: 1. **Industry Profile**: Ørsted is a global leader in offshore wind and renewable energy. While not a traditional regulated monopoly, its business model heavily relies on long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), feed-in tariffs, and government-backed infrastructure projects, which provide the high cash flow visibility typical of infrastructure-adjacent utilities. 2. **Financial Profile and Track Record**: * **Issuance History**: Ørsted has a long-standing history of using hybrid capital, with its first issuance dating back to 2005. It also issued hybrid bonds in the 2021-2022 period. The guidelines state that an entity having issued hybrid bonds is highly likely "Strongly Suitable." * **Financial Metrics**: Ørsted has a robust scale and operational capacity, with significant capital expenditure requirements to fuel its renewable growth strategy. While its Moody’s leverage trend is reported as "improving," the nature of the transition to green energy requires massive ongoing investment. Hybrid capital provides a strategic tool to manage leverage (as demonstrated by the 2.5x Net Debt/EBITDA ratio) and maintain rating headroom while funding large-scale infrastructure projects. * **Management Policy**: The company’s continued use of hybrid instruments indicates a sophisticated financial policy that views these instruments as a core component of its capital structure. 3. **Rationale**: Given the capital-intensive nature of offshore wind projects and the need to maintain a solid investment-grade credit profile (BBB range) amidst significant growth and development (Construction in Progress: 48.9 billion DKK), hybrid bonds serve as an efficient bridge between debt and equity. The issuance would materially support financial metrics and rating headroom. Given that Ørsted operates as a utility-like infrastructure developer, has an established and successful track record of hybrid capital usage, and requires ongoing capital support for its growth strategy, it aligns closely with the criteria for "Strongly Suitable." Strongly Suitable